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SONGS and SONNETS ^^ 



SONGS and SONNETS 



BY 



ALIDA CHANLER 




THE CORNHILL COMPANY 
BOSTON 



Copyright 1919 
By The Cornhill Company 






IB 13 1020 



©CI.A5597S2 
'He I 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

A Lui ^ 

Wish-Come-True 2 

Azay-la-Mer ^ 

Shadow Song ^ 

Contrast 

Silent Tides ^ 

Blue and White '^ 

Black River ^ 

Golf in May ^ 

April Showers ^^ 

Thunder Showers H 

Brown Thrasher 1^ 

Spring, 1918 13 

The Air Scout 1^ 

Youth and Pain 1^ 

In Memoriam ^^ 

Across the Gulf I'' 

Women Untrained 18 

Since Women May but Give 19 

Thanksgiving Day, 1917 20 

Ochre Court, 1918 21 

Value of Leisure 23 

Understanding 24 

Misunderstanding 25 

Moral Courage 26 

Love's View of It 27 

Revolt 28 



V 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Mastery 29 

The Stranger 30 

Refuge 31 

Form and Spirit 32 

Therefore 33 

Avowal 34 

My Heart's Over-Seas 35 

Sans Raneune 36 

Dismissed 37 

Lost and Found 38 

Fragment 39! 

Loneliness and Love 40 

Mirage 41 

Dead Love 42 

To F. B. M 43 

To Pixie 44 

To the Elf 45 

The Reason 46 

There Are Smiles 47 

To J. T. K. 

1. The Camp-Fire 48 

2. The Hearth 49 

3. Belle Nuit 49 

4. Gloom and Laughter 50 

Elysee D' Amour 51 

Autumn Awakening 52 

Autumn Tryst 63 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Psyche 54 

Beauty's Shrine 55 

The Roving Breeze 56 

Sailing the Seas 57 

En Passant 58 



Vll 



ALUI 

NE veus-tu pas venir 
Dans mon petit bateau, 
Dans mon petit navire 
Ballotant sur Peau? 

Pays que tant j 'admire, 

Lac que je trouve si beau, — 
Maintes choses a te dire 

Dans mon petit bateau. 



[1] 



WISH-COME-TRUE 

UP the brook of Wish-Come-True 
To the land of Fairy, 
Up into the mountains blue, 
Hillsides high and airy. 

There is Fancy most at home, 

On the moonlit waters, 
In the willows does she roam, 

Shadows are her daughters. 

Where the mist is thick and white, 

Luminously sailing, 
Mystery holds court at night, 

Sacred shrines unveiling. 

There Enchantment breaks the chain 
Of stern Nature's making, 

And our dreams are not in vain. 
Dreamt while we are waking. 

Did you think this led nowhere 

Up the silent river? 
When the magic in the air 

Sets the leaves aquiver? 

Come with me to mountains blue. 

Hillsides high and airy, 
Up the brook of Wish-Come-True 

To the land of Fairy. 

[2] 



AZAY-LA-MER 

AT Azay-la-Mer the great waves fling 
Their strength on the cliffs that are 
strongest, 
While boys and handsome young men sing 
Old songs that have lived the longest. 

The children dance at Azay-la-Mer, 

And fairies hide in the niches 
To see that games are all played fair 

And frighten off possible witches. 

At Azay-la-Mer the girls are sweet 

In truth as well as in seeming, 
And when their eyes w^ith the boys' eyes meet 

They wonder if all be not dreaming. 

'Tis Psyche lives at Azay-la-Mer, 
Her beauty the gardens adorning. 

I saw her eyes' reflection fair 

In sea-foamy pools in the morning. 



[3] 



SHADOW SONG 

LIVELY little shadows sweet 
Tripping round about my feet, 
Shadows of the leaves that sway, 
With the summer breeze at play ; — 
Roving shadows on the hills 
Blown as cloud or weather wills, 
Mounting up the hollowed cliff 
On the wings of breezy whiff; 
Lazy shadows lying long 
On the lawn at evensong, 
Shadows of the weary west 
Promising a world at rest; — 
Who says you are sad to see? 
Dance and rove and rest with me! 



L4] 



CONTRAST 

1. Saranac 

THE twinkling twirling aspen leaves 
Are flirting with the light, 
The slender, silvery birch tree weaves 

A net of green and white. 
Soft-spoken pines are musing 

Above the lapping waves, 
Whose murmurs low, confusing, 
Are hushed in rocky caves. 

2. Far Hills 

A blacksmith's tinkling hammer yields 

A touch of olden airs. 
The wheat fields and the oat fields 

Unroll in chequered squares. 
The peacefulness of farm life 

Lies over all the land. 
Its restfulness and charm rife 

With joy on every hand. 



[5 



SILENT TIDES 

SOFT-LASHING seaweed edging every rise 
Of tide, turn pools to eyes 
That lead imagination into deeps 
Where silently it weeps. 

Yet through the sadness run exultant strains, 
Like shoals of fish, like trains 
Of silver-shining, living signs of light 
Through ocean-guarded night. 



[6] 



BLUE AND WHITE 

SUN high, yet shadows slanting still. 
The morning mist quite fled, the sea 
Just waking to the trembling thrill 
Of little breezes breaking free. 

A ground-swell rears along the sand. 
It curls up smooth, a glittering sheet 

Of brilliant silver, curls to stand. 
Then breaks in foam about my feet. 

Clear sky, and sea no deeper blue. 
Part sparkling, part unruffled lies. 

Then, flying slow, a lone sea-mew 

Shows white against blue seas and skies. 



[7] 



BLACK RIVER 

BACK I lean against the rock 
In a softly mossy nook, 
Yield my shoulders to the shock 
Of the coolly pounding brook. 

Round me play reflected lights 
On the over-hanging trees, 

Where the forest shade invites 
To a peaceful rest and ease. 



[8] 



GOLF IN MAY 

MY first shot was good, for it landed 
Well over the crest of the hill. 
My driving improved, the left-handed, 
I followed it up with a will. 

But eye strayed from ball to white birches 

A-shimmer in lacy young green. 
There followed a round of vain searches, 

M}^ golf-ball could nowhere be seen. 

A rose-breasted grosbeak was singing. 
His voice made me cheerful again. 

I've other balls here, let's be swinging! 

Those clouds may yet shed some more rain. 

The second tee captures me straightway 

With beauty of apple trees old. 
A mower along by the railwa}^ 

Lays wet grass so cool to my hold. 

The third tee admits of no pretence, 

I carry the ball ; it's as well. 
The Ramapo river has no fence, 

Its waters hold me with a spell. 

The sun now distracts my attention. 
With diamonds decking the green, 

Three holes and no more. Pray don't mention 
I played, — 'twas not fit to be seen ! 

[9] 



APRIL SHOWERS 

RAIN has turned to mist now, harmless and 
caressing, 
I must leave the dark of my lone rock cave. 
Oh, the blacker beauty, by contrast to the 
young green. 
Trunks of hemlock wet by the east-blown 
wave. 

i 
Lady-slipper gay, I bend to kiss your cheek, 
dear, 
Jewelled all with dew as a May-Queen fair. 
On the pines the needles cling together darkly, 
Brightened by the rain drops sparkling in 
the air. 

Sunset and the thrushes hold me now in bond- 
age, 

Low in the west gleams the calm red Mars. 
Softly on a dry bed of scented leaves I lay me, 

Sleepily content under distant stars. 



[10] 



THUNDER SHOWERS 

T^ USK after storm. Rain drips off count- 

-■-^ less leaves, 

The lonely road is lit by passing flare 

Of slow-receding lightning. Shall I dare 

To venture out? My measured step relieves 

Oppressive stillness of storm-laden air 

On which far thunder's echo faintly heaves. 

No need to hurry. Slow the wood thrush sings 
His few legato notes with perfect ease; 
The mist moves leisurely on lazy breeze. 
I am in tune with all the measured things 
That mingle drowsily, with dripping trees, 
And heavy clouds outspread on silent wings. 



[" 



BROWN THRASHER 

OH thrasher, brown thrasher, you sing like 
a merl. 

You bring me right back to when I was a girl. 

When old England's hedges, with pink eglan- 
tine. 

And skylarks and blackbirds were all I called 
mine. 

The links by the chalk-cliffs, so wind-swept 
and gay. 

The dazzling white light-house, the yellow gorse 
spra}^, 

The song of the skylark and merl, blackest 
bird. 

Your thrasher voice brings them to life with 
a word. 



Oh thrasher, brown thrasher, I wonder you 

know 
The song of your cousin who sang long ago, 
W^hen England was home to me, all that I knew 
Of world and of life and of music like you. 



[12] 



SPRING, 1918 

THIS year spring caught me unawares. 
I used to watch and wait 
For spring to spread her myriad wares 
And sing at summer's gate. 

This year I had no time to heed 

Her pageant and her song. 
Onlv when work would slacken speed 

I knew her power was strong. 

She called me, but I turned away, 

I worked, and off she flew. 
Oh spring, I love you more to-day 

Than when I played with you. 



[13] 



THE AIR SCOUT 

A FLEECY fluffy mist 
Went dotting summer sky 
When first I saw you thread and twist 
And tumble up so high. 

The sun caught in your plane 
To flash like polished blade, 

Until you dove your nose again 
Into the fleecy shade. 

A dolphin at its play, 

A flying fish in foam. 
You tossed so carelessly, to say 

Up there you felt at home. 



[14] 



YOUTH AND PAIN 

TO keep youth's freshness, innocence, and 
mirth, 
Had been your wish, your glory, your defeat. 
She whom you loved was glad your smile to 

greet, 
But charms of youth held not for her the worth 
Of pain encountered, conquered, trodden down. 
And yielding deeper insight, giving youth 
Wise values known to age. In deepening Truth, 
The loneliness of pain becomes its crown. 

You threw off loneliness, ignored your pain. 
And bravel}^ tackled life with all your power. 
With men well-matched, a fortune you secured, 
Made light of losses, gave away your gain. 
Till war forced suffering on you; from that 

hour 
In painful service you have been matured. 



[15] 



IN MEMORIAM 

N. L. T. 

BLUE hills and Far Hills, and valleys all 
around, 
Green fields the mist shields as it were holy 

ground. 
Mourn him, oh, mourn him, who'll never see you 

more. 
Who loved you and left you to go to France at 
war. 

Farm land, his home land, you did not always 

guess 
The true heart his gay art concealed, his grave 

distress. 
He made fun, he feared none, save only others' 

pain; 
At their call he gave all, — it shall not be in vain. 

Blue hills and Far Hills, Black River and the 

Farm, 
Mourn him and guard him from wickedness and 

harm. 
Your friend and my friend, we bid him low 

good-bye. 
Near us he hears us, and begs us not to cry. 



[16] 



ACROSS THE GULF 

MY dear: Three days now I have lain, nor 
moved 
From this small dug-out half way up a hill. 
My own battalion's shells fly fast and shrill 
Above my head. The hostile aim has proved 
Beyond the mark as yet, while ours improved. 
Because young Tanner went, when all was still. 
To see their lines himself. I caught a chill. 
But don't you fear, my sick leave is approved. 

My dear, there is a gulf between this place 
And any thought of you. I grope to find 
The consciousness we knew so well, of each 
Alive by each ; I almost see your face. 
But cannot feel you near, my heart is blind. 
I need you so — but love is out of reach. 



[17] 



WOMEN UNTRAINED 

TO serve! A chance to serve is all we ask. 
What's beauty now, or wit, and all we 

strove 
To do or be before the war? Our task 
Takes on the high simplicity of love. 
Serve, yes. But how decide what serves the 

best? 
Our armies know their duty is to fight. 
We only know we want to give them rest, 
And help somehow to make their burden light. 
We either do men's work with unskilled hand. 
And fail to do our own, or helpless stand 
At some trained nurse's service, bent in vain 
On lifting both the soul's and body's pain. 



[18] 



SINCE WOMEN MAY BUT GIVE 

YOU who return as guardians of the dead 
To ways of life that once were pleasant 

ways; 
You men matured in war, whose earnest gaze 
Shall search our woman hearts for living 

bread, — 
Ask not the little things, but ask instead 
The best you need of us. We want to raise 
Ourselves to meet you, as in former days 
We stooped to please, so willingly misled. 

Since women ma^^ but give as men shall ask, 
We need you with us now, to help us keep 
The costly gains for which you've fought and 

bled. 
Oh, let it be our common aim and task 
To live more worthy of our friends who sleep. 
To try to follow where their footsteps led. 



[19] 



THANKSGIVING DAY, 1917 

A HALL that's lived in, large and deep and 
high. 
Whose twilit windows, built two flights up, 

throw 
Diffused gray light into the room below. 
The guests at tea are watching gay sparks fly. 
Or turn to look where, under fading sky. 
Sits Larry playing by the candle's glow. 
Relaxed, head bowed, he lets his fingers flow. 
And fills the room with music. We sit by. 

Now airplanes are forgotten, and the war, 
The uniform is there, the soldier's not. 
Hungarian rhythms, early German strains, — ■ 
We could not well enjoy the music more. 
Nor be more thankful that the war's forgot. 
While spite of all art's magic power remains. 



[20] 



OCHRE COURT, 1918 

1. Ensemble 

THE sea beats on the cliffs, but your gray 
walls, 
As smoothly toned as pearly sea-gull's plume, 
Rise calm above the waves' incessant boom. 
Though gray without, within your stately halls 
Are lit in festive grandeur for the balls 
You shelter and give rise to. Warships loom 
Out of the fog like messengers of doom, 
But you defy the war while music calls. 

Gay uniforms are rivalling the hues 

Of ladies' dresses, and the dancers weave 

A blend of khaki, white, and reds and blues. 

A Belgian prince, French colonel, British peer. 

Our men in training, foreigners on leave, 

All find at Ochre Court a moment's cheer. 

2. Solos and Duet 

"I hope she noticed when he danced with me, 

His uniform is finest of them all. 

She only had a captain, who was tall 

But commonplace in khaki, you'll agree." 

"I want to meet Miss Windsor, that is she 

In yellow, coming this way down the hall. 

She looks quite smart, and speaks a southern 

drawl. 
And then she's rich, as I should like to be." 
[21] 



A young lieutenant holds the door for her 
Whose queenly charm enthralls both gay and 

grave. 
He follows her, they walk down towards the sea. 
The magic of her beauty seems to stir 
Strange terror in his heart, in war so brave, — 
Her eyes are filling fast, she cannot see. 



[22] 



VALUE OF LEISURE 

WHO strips off falsehood's dark and dusty 
shroud 
From ancient wisdom, carries peacefully 
Conviction to men's hearts, his word is power. 
Reflection's gift is theirs who do not crowd 
Each day with occupations uselessly, 
Nor waste in idleness their leisure hour, 



[23] 



UNDERSTANDING 

T3 ECAUSE your scale of values is the same 

-*-^ As that which I acknowledge for my own, 

You are my judge. For sentence I am thrown 

Upon your mercy, not at all on fame. 

The world ignores all motive, sets the blame 

According to a standard built alone 

On outward signs and actions. What is known 

Of such ideals as ours, except a name.^^ 

Before your face I tremble. You have power 
To make me wither like a shrivelled leaf. 
All that I do, even all I think, must stand 
The searching of your eyes. But though I 

cower, 
In truth I am exultant, oh my chief, 
For you who know my heart, best understand. 



[24] 



MISUNDERSTANDING 

YOU knew my thought of you was well- 
defined, 
You did not know it was a thought of praise. 
You felt me judge you in a thousand ways, 
Yet knew not that you stood like gold refined, 
The tests admiring wonder had designed. 
You feared I called you selfish, in a phrase 
Not meant of you at all. It would amaze 
Your humble thoughts had you my fears 
divined. 

When you did learn I liked you, conscience said 
You'd not done all you should. But I would 

take 
No favors from your conscience, which I fled 
By quick concealing what you nearly* 

guessed, — 
My heart's true feelings. Yours the one mis- 
take 
Your conscience made ; my pride caused all the 
rest. 



[25] 



MORAL COURAGE 

CHILD-HEART of wonder 
Marvels at all : 
Poppies or thunder 

Equally thrall. 
Years come and waken 
Self-conscious pose, 
Nature is taken, 

Thrown like a rose. 

Left each his scorning, 

True to his best. 
Needless were warning. 

None to molest; 
Needless were lectures. 

Needless all rules. 
Honest conjectures. 

Men their own schools. 



[26] 



LOVE'S VIEW OF IT 

THE blow has fallen. You who ruled world- 
wide 
Are outcast now, discredited, denied. 
For overstepping, in your royal stride. 
The paltry limits set by petty pride. 
They cheered you on, the mean and thoughtless 

fools. 
They praised you when it was not yet your due. 
While now, when to yourself you have been 

true, 
And won such victory, they talk of rules ! 
What though you have ignored a rule or two. 
If so you learnt the lesson of great love.?* 
In glad relief I come, and haste to prove 
By loving service how I honor you. 
The real catastrophe had been to me. 
If you obeyed the fickle world's decree. 



[27] 



REVOLT 

THE bonds must break, do you say, and 
make 
Clear room for your soul at last? 
Most true, but those that should go, still close 
On you, and they hold you fast. 

Not the outward chain of circumstance plain. 

But inwardly (do you start?) 
Lies the binding strong that's a blinding wrong. 

Which drove you to break a heart. 



[28] 



MASTERY 

THERE'S strength that's harshness, and 
there's strength commands 
Respect and confidence and fearless trust. 
There's guarded shrinking, fanned to angry 

gust 
Of swift resentment; and there's that demands 
A nobler name, a sensitiveness due 
To keen perception of the finer shades 
Of human feeling. Men in many trades 
Have lost that quality, but not so you. 

Your trenchant thought, incisive as a blade, 
Cuts to the quick, and logic's rule applies. 
The laws of nature you have mastered so 
That others see, through you, how worlds are 

made. 
From such a mastery of earth you'll rise 
To conquer human hearts, their secrets know. 



[29] 



THE STRANGER 

FROM Solitude's vast kingdom he had come, 
A wanderer whose spirit drove him forth, 
A man who loved mankind, and knew its worth. 
He loved the world, yet he found there no home. 
The cares of men lay lightly on his heart. 
For he had deeper cares than most men know. 
Their joys he shared through sympathy, but so 
That they might guess he had therein small 

part. 
His sweetness drew men to him, but his air 
Of calm aloofness kept him stranger still. 
Some hated him for this, and did him ill. 
Some loved him for it, gave him all their care. 
And their love made the world's joys seem but 

small. 
And made him feel his lot was best of all. 



[30] 



REFUGE 

DEAR little room with your walls so white, 
Your window I love, with the hills in 
sight, — 
I run to your sheltering peace, and hide. 
And labor to reach the great world outside. 

I work by myself, nor heed the blame. 

Since I work for my friends, and not for fame. 

When writing's my work, with your dreams for 

rest, 
I come, little room that is facing west. 



[31] 



FORM AND SPIRIT 

I CARE not who is dark or fair, 
I have no use for breeding's claim. 
Is sensitiveness not more rare 

Than breeding is? And beauty's name 
All noble faces share. 



[32] 



THEREFORE 

BECAUSE you fire the best in me to flame ; 
Because your quick responsiveness de- 
lights 
My love of comradeship, you know a game 
That keeps imagination on the heights ; 
Because you satisfy the dreams that are 

My joy and refuge from material things, 

Because those dreams shall reach you, near 

or far. 

To move your spirit as my spirit sings ; 

Because you feel the need of beauty's charm 

As others do, but are not satisfied. 
Desiring Psyche, innocent of harm. 

Whose clear-eyed vision is your chosen guide ; 
Because your power pierces through and 

through 
Your human bondage, — therefore I love you. 



[33] 



AVOWAL 

LOVE tied my tongue; I left unsaid 
A thousand futile things. 
I could not speak, my thoughts instead 
Sought you on silent wings. 

Love tied my hands; I left undone 

A thousand selfish deeds. 
Love's harvest time had not begun, 

I scarce dared sow the seeds. 

And then the day came when I could 

Admit my love, and go. 
Before your searching eyes I stood. 

Content because you know. 

You know the greatness of my love. 
The knowledge holds your eyes. 

And I know how the stars above 
Sing songs to all the skies. 



[34] 



MY HEART'S OVER-SEAS 

MY heart's over-seas 
And I may not follow. 
No labor can ease, 

None deaden my sorrow. 

I knew when he sailed, 
(My heart only told me), 

And everything failed 

From that time, to hold me. 

Though laws may forbid. 
And I'll never follow, 

My heart travels hid 
In silence and sorrow. 



[35] 



SANS RANCUNE 

YOU broke things up? No, truly, you mis- 
take. 
But it is sweet of you to come and say 
You did not mean to take my joy away. 
Except my heart, there was nothing to break. 
You're not to blame. Your thinking otherwise 
Has set me dreaming . . . may he then have 

said 
He could have, possibly, loved me instead? 
But I'll not think of that, it's most unwise. 

Since he went over-seas you know my loss, 
As I feel yours most consciously to-day. 
And both of us, by paths which do not cross. 
Reach out to him in prayer for life's dear sake. 
I grudge you nothing, and I only pray 
My heart and yours may never have to break. 



[36] 



DISMISSED 

LOVE, I thought you silenced, 
Long you've been denied. 
Living still, unheeded. 
Mutinous, you cried. 

Love, I beg you, hush now. 

I must not reveal. 
Even by my flinching. 

What I really feel. 

Love, you would not hurt him? 

If he sees you here 
You will bring him sorrow 

Though you hold him dear. 

Go then. Love, and leave me 

Till the happy day 
When I'll bid you welcome 

Ever more to stay. 



[37] 



LOST AND FOUND 

LOST is the comrade, voice and smile and 
comfort, 
Found is the strength to bear the road alone. 
Lost is the life of careless ease and pleasure, 
Found is the hope that sorrow shall atone. 



[38] 



FRAGMENT 

FOR each lesson one learns 
There's a memory burns 
Its refrain in the heart without pause. 
And the burden of mine 
Is of lovely design, 
A burnt-offering made to a cause. 



[39] 



LONELINESS AND LOVE 

I OFTEN have wondered how others could 
do, 
Who flirted and blundered, but never loved 

true. 
The world is indeed queer, consoling its heart 
With new love at need, dear, to play the old 
part. 

Had I not the dearest, I'd find me a beau, 
And flirt with the nearest? I promise you, no. 
Who asks such a lot dear, and finds it at last. 
Is bound (are we not, dear?) to ever hold fast. 



[40] 



MIRAGE 

I SEE you rule and sway the hearts of all, 
I see from far away your stature tall, 
Your well-poised, noble head, your comely 

grace. 
And now I nearer tread, I see your face. 

But even as I look I shudder, too. 
Those eyes no heart can brook and not love you. 
That pale and haunting face, the perfect hair, 
All bear to me the trace of my despair. 

As who should say, "Behold, a city fair 
With minarets of gold, — and 'twas but air." 
So, too, with all you seem and yet are not. 
All I so love to dream, and vainly plot. 



[41] 



DEAD LOVE 

TT^AR worse than disillusion, sadder yet 

-*- Than loss of love's great gift of second 

sight, 
Is knowledge that the blind world too was right, 
That one held sacred can be coldly met. 



[42] 



TO F. B. M. 

WHICH shall it be? To write of you, and 
fail 
To do you justice? Or, be silent still. 
You do not know I want you, how I hail 

The hour that brings you here to Hemlock 
Hill. 
That's what I want to tell you. Words avail 
But little maybe, try at least I will. 

I might begin by telling of the charm 

And grace and sweet attractiveness that 
plays 
About your presence, guarding you from harm. 

But that sounds evanescent, and no praise 
Can really touch you, though it were so warm 

It made you smile to hear its naive lays. 

I 
For praise can't reach where vanity is not. 

Nor touch the innate beauty at life's core. 
It only skims the surface, sees a lot. 

But feels so little. We who feel far more 
Than praise conveys, fall back on surer shot, 

And aim with love, not praise, to win you o'er. 



[43] 



TO PIXIE 

YOU'RE a fairy god-child, 
Pixie dear, to me, 
Joy of friends I love well 
Way across the sea. 

War did not discourage, 
Need could not dispel 

Dreams you are fulfilling 
With your fairy spell. 

Peace found you in England, 

Where, a baby too, 
I once played with rainbows 

Just as you will do. 

Rainbow toys are trifles 
To your fairy ways. 

For there is a magic 
In your dark eyes' gaze. 

Are not yours the riches 

Of eternal store .^ 
Heritage of wisdom. 

Love's unbounded lore? 

Pixie, take me with you ! 

Round each hidden bend 
Let's build fairy cities. 

Pixie, — let's pretend! 
[ 44] 



TO THE ELF 

SLENDER lily, you I deem 
Rare as are blue flowers, 
Fashioned like an artist's dream. 
Dreamt in golden hours. 

You whose destiny is fame, 
(Gifted as you are, dear,) 

Having insight's sacred flame 
Lighting all your path clear, — 

Must your sensitive young soul 

Be subjected ever 
To such trivial life, whose goal 

Can't be your endeavor? 

Shall I see the firm resolve 
Modelling your mouth now, 

Into bitterness dissolve. 
Or the cynic's smile show? 

Must you bow to yoke that brings 

Apathy in time ? No ! 
For you'll not give up those things 

Long your due, withheld so. 

You shall grow to your best self, 
Wiser for this hardship. 

Yet remain the charming Elf 
Of our early friendship. 
[45] 



THE REASON 

OH my dear, it's not your lightness, 
Charming as it is, and sweet, 
That I'd criticise, — its brightness 
In your heart should ever beat. 

Noble souled and noble minded 

Unto insight, if need be, 
You in one thing yet are blinded. 

Thinking that you most need me. 

For your insight guides you only, 
Does not urge you, force you, rule. 

Does not cut you oif, all lonely. 
Does not make of you its tool. 

What I seem may be misleading. 
Just a trick of voice or eye; 

What I am you are not needing, — 
Though I own it with a sigh. 



[46] 



THERE ARE SMILES 

THERE are smiles when you are playing, 
Born of listening to the sway 
Of the music's rhythm you're obeying, 
Whose delight can make the gravest gay. 

But my feet are tapping to the measure. 
Disappointed that they may not share 

In the rhythm's syncopated pleasure, — 
Your not dancing seems quite unfair! 



[47] 



TO J. T. K. 

1. The Camp-Fire 

LIGHT is the step that treads beside a com- 
rade, 
Light is the heart in unison with yours. 
Great is the joy in sharing sweet experience, 
Sweet is the pleasure in camping out of 
doors. 

Woods where I've loved, from childhood up, to 
wander. 
Brooks where I've tuned the falls to varied 
notes ; 
Rocks where I hid, in play a lonely Indian, 
Trees whereon birds sing, swelling tiny 
throats ; 

These would I share with you who will enjoy 
them. 

These, and much more, in fellowship of heart. 
All would I share, save only your enjoyment, 

That I would treasure, fear to miss a part. 

Where, in the twilit shadows of the wildwood. 

Hoot-owls resent invasion of their realm. 
There, by the camp-fire, low-voiced and myste- 
rious. 
We'll sift our problems, watchers at life's 
helm. 

[48] 



2. The Hearth 

You shall sit by the fire alone 

And your hands shall be busied with tea, 
And your silence shall speak to me, sweeter in 
tone. 

Than even your voice can be. 

Then lightly we'll talk of trifles, 

And joke, till a laughing glance 
Meets a glance in which shyness stifles 

The love that awaits its chance. 



3. Belle Nuit 

Three months brim full of the city, 
Three months, and no sign that I live. 

I am busy, oh yes ; more's the pity. 
If action is all I can give. 

The woods might arouse me, they're vital, 

All Nature's alive to the tips. 
If in town I've the concert recital. 

In the woods there are songs on your lips. 

But you sang here in town? That's no matter, 

I heard, and I was in the woods. 
After months of mere hurry and chatter, 

I'm alive and I feel the old moods. 
[49] 



4. Gloom and Laughter 

The day was gray, and war had made me sad. 
I saw the laurel droop its dark old leaves 
And raise deep-tinted buds above, and sheaves 
Of fresh leaves yet on top, in young green clad. 
I saw gold tips on hemlocks mainly green, 
I heard my favorite birds sing June's content. 
But in my heart was only discontent 
And what my eyes saw I'd not really seen. 

And then there came a sudden thought of you, 
A kind of flashlight of you, how you smile 
On love, but praise refuse as not your due ; 
And how you can be silent such a while 
But to reply with sympathy more wise, — 
And then I laughed, remembering your eyes. 



[50] 



ELYSEE D'AMOUR 

AMONG hot-scented cedars on the hills 
There hides a bower to which my 
thoughts have fled. 
Pure marble are its walls, and overhead 
The sunlight sifts through clear and rippling 

rills 
Of water framed in glass, and edged with frills 
Of vine leaves bearing sky-blue flowers, that 

shed 
Nor scent nor warmth, but heaven's color, 

spread 
In glorious richness on the marble sills. 

Within, beside us here, a gray bird sings 
Low fluted tones that mount on broken chords. 
He pauses now; then soars with ringing power 
Which fills the air like sweep of angel's wings. 
We listen in still rapture, happy lords 
Of life and love in our Elysian bower. 



[51] 



AUTUMN AWAKENING 

THE muffled stillness in cool morning air 
Means autumn's coming, means the 
stupor's gone 
That steeped us deep in dreams from dawn to 

dawn 
All summer long. Awake again, I dare 
To claim your presence, claim my right to share 
Renewed existence with your sensitive 
Far-sighted sympathy. Must I not give 
Of what I feel to one for whom I care? 

The muffled morning air is freighted, thrilled 
With vigor concentrated and intense. 
All life is piled up in one moment, filled 
With promise to the brim. A love immense 
Bows down my heart, a love in laughter spilled 
For you have come, you lift the long suspense. 



[52] 



AUTUMN TRYST 

ALONE with beauty which I long to share! 
If I might meet jou where and when I 
chose, 
I'd choose a pasture where late sunlight throws 
Long shadows through the rain-washed autumn 

air. 
Until its beauty grew too great to bear 
We'd revel in the landscape's sweet repose; 
Then ease the tension as emotion grows, 
And let our eyes confess how much we care. 

Bright stillness round us after storming 

showers. 
The only sound a low-voiced cricket's trill. 
Long threaded cobwebs glint like steel or gold; 
The rain has washed dead petals from the 

flowers. 
Our hearts' commotion holds us very still. 
Intensely silent while our dreams unfold. 



[53] 



PSYCHE 

TO one I go for company, to one 
For vivid contrast, swift initiative. 
And to a third for rest, a fourth for fun, 

A fifth for guidance, so on as they give 
The one thing best. You are all things to me. 

You understand with half a word, I state 
But don't explain, for you see as I see. 

Vast struggles, turmoils, worlds at war with 
fate. 
All fade before you, vanish in the haze 

Of radiant loveliness your beauty throws 
About your presence. Deep in trance I gaze. 

Both drawn and held aloof by your repose, 
Whose restful peace has set my spirit free. 
And makes me glad you are all things to me. 



[54] 



BEAUTY'S SHRINE 

I RARELY see your fair ethereal face, 
Whose delicate transparency one fears, 
Whose wondrous beauty dims my eyes with 

tears, 
Transporting me to some celestial place 
Of loveliness that lies too deep for words. 
I wish you shared my joy, but if that's proved 
Impossible, I wish I were less moved, — 
As when I hear boys singing minor thirds. 

When we do meet I smile with happy heart 
From sheer delight at harmony so true. 
Is it for art's sake you are hiding thus 
Your beauty's self, to build a shrine apart? 
I long to find one who'll give more to you 
Than art, so give you back to live with us. 



[55] 



THE ROVING BREEZE 

A LAZY stream wound slowly through the 
sedge, 
And from their vantage point they watched it 

flow. 
The swaying grass disclosed it far below, 
With cattle grazing by the water's edge. 
Contentment stilled his heart. Her silent 

pledge 
Of dreamy love made both their faces glow. 
They looked beyond the river; lovers know 
Dream beauty lies beyond love's sunny ledge. 

Now roving winds bow down the slender grass 
And wake conflicting wishes singing low 
Within her heart, and speaking in his eyes. 
Yield him her first kiss ? While the breezes pass 
Her doubts are guessed and vanquished. 

Waters flow 
Unheeded now, and tranquil are the skies. 



[56] 



SAILING THE SEAS 

OH the sea and the sky and the sail winds 
have spread, 
Oh the light in your eye and the poise of your 

head! 
Oh the surge of the sea past the boom straining 

low, 
Both to windward and lea see it rush, see it flow. 
Oh the thrill of your voice as it floats on the 

gale. 
In the storm we rejoice, 'gainst the winds we 

prevail. 
O'er the shimmering flood and the glimmering 

haze 
Let us turn unto God, let us sing in His praise ! 



[57] 



EN PASSANT 

JEANNE, Jeannot, Jeanneton, Jeannette, 
Ou cours-tu done? Attends, arretes! 

Jeanne, Jeannette, Jeanneton, Jeannot, 
Que je te dise un tout petit mot. 

Jeanne, Jeannot, Jeannette, Jeanneton, 
Tu veux? Si c'est quelque chose de bon? 

Chere Jeanne (tout court, puis que tu attends) 
Heureux Noel et Nouvelle Ans. 






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